Their eyes are riveted to the small screen with a pen and notebook poised for taking down notes. Some of them flip the pages of their books but the cellphone with wired headphones is the constant feature. They can be found in bus bays, on the metro train coaches, in libraries and even on the sidewalks near libraries. The announcement of tens of thousands of jobs by the Telangana government has turned the cellphone into a ubiquitous gadget for competitive exam preparations.
“My routine is online classes, spending time getting updates on news in the library and discussion with friends on various topics,” says Karunakar, a math graduate who is preparing for the exam.
“Very few are going for in-class coaching for the Telangana State Public Service Commission exams due to financial issues. Online classes are more affordable as the living and food expenses are out of the way in my hometown,” says Karunakar from Sircilla. While online classes are available for ₹5,000-6,000, the cost of in-person classes starts at ₹30,000. In addition, the candidates have to live in rented places and spend money on food and travel.
The announcement of jobs was expected to give a big boost to coaching centres that were affected due to COVID-induced lockdown for the past two years. But the big bang news about jobs hasn’t changed their fortunes. “We have the largest number of students for coaching with 600 on rolls. A majority of them have been with us for a long time,” says Krishna Pradeep, who runs a coaching centre in Ashok Nagar.
The sudden announcement and limited time for availing coaching have caught the aspirants off-guard. “The freely available tutorials on YouTube are mostly tips and about the books that students should study. Aspirants who pay get access to our online classes,” says Mr. Pradeep.
While online classes had a limited reach before the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a technological shift and acceptance among both aspirants and coaches now.
